Kuna sanitation company sets national standard with first all-electric fleet

KUNA, Idaho (CBS2) — Local companyJ&M Sanitationis proud to say they've gone fully electric. The family business has been around for nearly 40 years serving residential, commercial and construction trash needs for the cities of Kuna, Melba and some of unincorporated Canyon County.

"I grew up on the back of a garbage truck. My parents bought this back in 1986 so we've had it for 38 years," said Chad Gordon, J&M Sanitation General Manager."Dad's always wanted to do stuff that was environmentally friendly for the communities that we service. He's seen the detriment that our country has gone through to get oil and fuels for power in these trucks and if there was a different way to do it, he was willing to take the chance."

Gordon says J&M Sanitation is making history as the first sanitation company, not only in Idaho, but in the entire United States to collect all residential trash and recycling within a city using a fleet of fully electric vehicles.

"It's made a huge impact here in our community, just simply for the fact that we don't have four trucks out there billowing black smoke into the air, and we've been able to reduce that with these 100% electric vehicles," said Gordon. "It's a pretty good feeling for a small family-owned outfit like ourselves to be able to do this. It really shows that it is something that can be done on a small scale, and working towards a larger scale for larger companies being able to do the same thing."

Gordon says Idaho is a great market for a fully electric fleet because Idaho Power has some of the lowest rates in the U.S. to charge electric vehicles.

"Idaho is special in the fact that a lot of our power is produced through renewable resources, so when we say we're charging these with electricity from the grid, a lot of that is green energy that we are putting into these trucks," said Gordon. "There's a lot of misinformation out there about electric vehicles and how well they work or don't work and we just want people to know that it is something that works in the right application and that Idaho, of all places, is leading the forefront."

Electric vehicles are not only better for the air in your neighborhood but also for the drivers collecting your garbage. Gordon says electric vehicles are beneficial for driver retention, as they are quiet and stay cool.

"Some drivers would wear earplugs because it was so loud and we'd try to call them and couldn't get a hold of them, but now with these trucks, it's not an issue," said Gordon. "The biggest complaint we get from customers is that they can't hear the truck coming!"

J&M Sanitation bought their first two electric trucks in 2021 with help fromVolkswagen Clean Air Act Civil Settlement funds that became available through the Department of Environmental Quality.

"It's something that dad's been very passionate about and regardless of whether or not the Volkswagen funds were in play, we would have at least started with one truck. It just helped us to get to the point of having multiple trucks involved to complete all the residential routes that we have," said Gordon.

J&M Sanitation added two more electric vehicles in the last month, making their fleet fully electric. Gordon says electric vehicles cost $25 a day to fuel versus their former diesel trucks, which cost them about $180 to $290 a day.

"The two new trucks allow us to do some of our longer routes that we weren't able to do with the smaller battery capacity," said Gordon. "So now our recycling truck travels about 50 miles a day, goes into Boise and empties its load and comes all the way back here, and these higher battery capacities have allowed us to accomplish those routes."

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